The Terps and their crowd

By
Dan Steinberg

I'm not sure exactly what time this photo inside Comcast Center was taken, but the Diamondback's Chris Eckard said it was "the start of the game." There seem to be a few nice seats available. Like, all of them.

But it turns out Gary wasn't only irritated with the students who weren't there. He was also peeved at some of the students who were there; namely, those who write for the student paper.

"The reason [critics are critical] is because they read The Diamondback," Williams said, according to the paper. "That's why they doubt us."

I mean, if he's that paranoid in late February, this team is definitely primed for another one of its patented late-season charges. Oh, and somehow neither of those Williams quotes made the school's post-game quote sheet.

it was a joke. the student section was barely half full. if I made the trek as a working person who has to deal with carpooling, traffic, parking, and getting up for work the next morning, there is no excuse for the students. I would kill to be a student again. support this team no matter what. to the students that were there, you were loud and animated. the war chant was the highlight. great team performance.

Never in all my years as a Terp have I been so ashamed of our students. The alumni came out in force last night, but the students were absolutely pathetic. The ones that did come were real loud, but those that have quit on this team should be ashamed of themselves.

Hey we were there a week ago for the women's game v Duke. That was a nice crowd and a great game.
BTW SI.com in an article about Steve Lavin dropped in this little bomb about Gary Williams.

"Best of all, Lavin makes his guys want to play hard -- a vastly underrated coaching tool. Throughout my years covering sports, I've seen one college coach after another try to urge on his players via condemnation, tantrums, vulgarity and brutality. I will never forget sitting behind the University of Maryland bench during the Terrapins' 87-79 loss to Arizona in the 1998 West Regional semifinal in Anaheim. As his players struggled to shut down the Wildcats' big three of Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon, coach Gary Williams let loose a series of tirades that left everyone sitting within earshot in a stunned -- and awkward -- silence. The language was disgusting. The disapproval was heartbreaking. I'll never forget the face of Laron Profit, at the time Maryland's best player, as he listened to his coach talk to him as if he were a prison inmate. That Maryland lost was hardly a shocker; Williams all but psyched his men out."

I guess we should fire Gary since we used attendance as a rationale to fire Ralph. And well we're headed to the fourth NIT in eight years and the times we have made it we can't get past the second round. I guess Gary is so good, no other coach could possibly lead this team to the Sweet 16.

Gotta love Barno, he hit right on the money! I've been following this team my whole life, I still remember in middle school having to get scalpers tickets to see William & Mary. Now they lots of red (and I'm not talking about people) for an ACC game. And people complain about football attendance. We are a basketball school for crying out loud.

I have a feeling that part of it has to do with students being angry at the administration in letting SGA members have prime seating bypassing the lottery system at the Duke game? Apparently this was done in an effort to quash some of the obscene chants?

The other part is these are spoiled brats who didn't support the football team and have given up on the basketball team. The Diamondback has always been run by leftist idea logs who have no clue about real life.

My recommendation is to sell the student tickets to the general public. The ones that want to go can have first shot but make them pay for a discounted ticket! That way,it comes out of their pocket not mom and dads check covering student activities!

If they want to protest their right to yell f duke they should take it up with the SGA or have a protest in front of the North Administration Bldg as has been the custom.

Gary and the team proved they don't need them to win a home game. As an alum I am ashamed and embarrassed by the empty seats! My generation would never have left the team high and dry. These punks don't deserve to be there, much less the prime seats around the court!

First of all, Gary has always complained about attendence. I remember him getting upset in the mid-late 1990's about low turnouts in Cole and this was when the team was consistently ranked in the Top 25.

Secondly, as fatlabriley2 said, the Admin at UMD for years has been going after the students over various real and precieved grievances.

While you can't let the inmates run the aslyum, you can't criticize everything the students do and expect the students to show up.

Wow...as a MD alum I'm extremely disappointed with the student turnout last night (guys you missed a golden opportunity to support your team and celebrate a well deserved victory). Just be there the next time.... I remember when I attend MD we had a stupid lottery system in place to get tickets (sometimes we couldn't get tickets believe it or not) although we paid our athletics fee as part of tuition. Terps '88

Oh my goodness gracious! Heaven's to Betsy, skins_fan_22: Gary Williams said naughty words to young adults in 1998? I sure hope Laron Profit was able to recover from the mental injury this must have caused. The poor innocent children given full rides to a major division school, where most are groomed for professional basketball (either here or abroad) and salaries exponentially higher than most of their classmates!

I was at the game last night (Section 216), and the picture depicted in this article is not an accurate reflection of the attendance at last night's game. 56.5 seconds means 56.5 seconds before the start of the team introductions, which means it's still a good ten minutes until tip-off. Many of the empty seats shown in this picture were occupied throughout the game. Having said that, there were many empty seats last night, in both the student section and the paying section. I was in row 13 and saw many empty seats behind me. Whatever the reason for the empty seats (students studying or old farts not able to make a 9:00 PM start), it's unfair to blame it all on the students.

Well maybe if you actually had local kids attending Maryland for four years you might get more loyalty and attendance. As someone called it, trying to make it the Berkeley of the east, obviously contributes to the apathy. A state school should be first and foremost interested in educating state kids. It's pathetic.

This is what happens when you don't make it past the second round of the tourney for 8 years. All those students from Jersey, Long Island and Philly find other things to take up their time. Maryland athletics is losing steam, unfortunately.

as a student the turn out last night was to say the least a let down, these days people at this school only care about what grade there going to get on their next final or how long can we spend in the library or some crap i mean come on i have four exams today and i was still there last night to support my terps

"As a current student I can say student turnout is very often terrible, it seems as if a lot students just scan their tickets for the points and then leave, just so they can go to the Duke game.

Posted by: franchise41 | February 24, 2011 10:40 AM"
-->That's the problem, where I went (Colorado) we had to pay for tickets and that was to see a basketball program with no prestige and were generally unsuccessful. If you charged the students for tickets, they wouldn't scan and leave and get their investment. I'm not saying they should charge up to the wahzoo, but people clearly don't "value" free tickets.

Couldn't agree more with Van Pelt and Williams. I'm Class of 2008, during my time we missed the NCAAs three out of four years but the students SHOWED UP. I can't remember a conference game having such a pitiful attendance. 10 years ago you couldnt get a ticket unless you knew somebody or bought from a scalper.

I'm more pissed off at the big wigs who have tickets in the 100 levels. They are the biggest hypocrites going because when things get tough they get on their soapboxes and demand this or that. The 100s are never full except for Duke.

"They really gotta move the games earlier. 9 pm for weeknight games is absurd. They shouldn't be any later than 7-7:30.

Posted by: skins_fan_22 | February 24, 2011 12:19 PM"
-->That's not MD choice, it's for TV. They have had 9 PM starts for a while now and attendance was never a problem. I think it has more to do with the program being a shell of itself. Duke/UNC (along with other ACC teams) also routinely have 9 PM starts.

Well I will let you all on a little nugget about the attendance... some of the blame is on the School itself and the Terrapin Club.. this happened a few years ago to multiple friends of mine, who are Alumni... they all had good seats and were fans and donators to MD back since the last years of Cole... well, with hard economic times, they could not donate as much as they did previous so... their season ticket locations were moved further and further up to the point where now, they refuse to be Season ticket holders... again, this has happened to multiple friends and their families that went and donated to MD... because they could not afford to send the usual $$ but were still sending something, they were treated very ungraciously.... to the point where now, they refuse to even donate a penny to their alma mater!.... I also agree, nerds do not like basketball because they are too busy studying :)... and the administration wants MD to be the second coming of an Ivy league school... it is a public/State university...

"I also agree, nerds do not like basketball because they are too busy studying :)... and the administration wants MD to be the second coming of an Ivy league school... it is a public/State university..."
____________________

And because it's a state university, it thus has to be inherently inferior academically? As a College Park alumnus (and fan of all Terrapin teams), I resent that remark.

While Gary Williams is a superb coach who's earned the right to stay at College Park as long as he wants, I dare say the perpetual chip on his shoulder -- something that's been part of his psyche since he played at Maryland for Bud Millikan, when he resented what was then the football orientation of the Terp fan base -- has long worn thin. Alas, I'm not sure he realizes that.

The Students no longer reflect the State of Maryland and obviously the culture is changing before our eyes. The Alumni always seem to fill the paying seats, this is just an extension of when they were students climbing over one another trying to get the best seats in Cole Fieldhouse.

There is still a hardcore Student attendance as last night proved but their members are growing thin. This Terp team is coming together in a big way and maybe after we spank the Heels this weekend the students will come in larger numbers. There is still a lot of passion and I will still take this home crowd over our opponents home courts anyday. The Terps will always have the Alumni to cheer them on just as they had when we were all students.

Perhaps our favorite AD Mr. Anderson's values and attitudes is seeping into our Student's heads as well. He has complained about sportmanship and bad language by students. My question is this, when everything was great why try to fix it. Pregame speeches to the Students by the Athletic Dept. and the SGA and the band tries to drown out the tip off "hey you suck" cheer. I think we are getting what we have been asking for. You try to fix something that wasn't broken and see what you get. Terps fans were the most passionate with or without the language. We should let the AD know he needs to stay out of these matters. I will bet he did not sell out too many weeknight games at Westpoint either.

If you students aren't going to Maryland basketball games because you can't chant "you suck" anymore, I have four words for you: You people are ignorant. (Oh, and a few more words as an addenda: Transfer to a "party" school; College Park doesn't need you.)

I said it in another comments section but I'll repeat: When I was at Maryland (mid- to late 90s) missing an ACC game at Cole was unheard of. Absolutely unheard of. Didn't have any points system then, just got up before sunrise to wait in line for tickets (camped out twice) and then arrived two hours before tipoff to claim seats somewhere usually in rows 2, 3 or 4. Great stuff.

Being at last night's game and seeing those empty seats was depressing.

While going after the student newspaper's coverage might seem small, I'll do some Devil's Advocate in Gary's defense: lots of the sports "columnists" there and sports fans in the student body were thinking about applying to colleges not long after the Terps were top-5 nationally; having come here from New Jersey or New York for the first time, they feel cheated out of what they falsely assumed would be perennial Final Four trips. They can't name any players older than Blake and Dixon, and they stink.

Bigger matter, however, is that this was an embarrassing crowd last night; lets just hope we don't get simultaneously more apathetic and vulgar as a fan base.

Im not even a Maryland graduate. But, I grew up a Maryland fan. I think over the past several years attendance for Maryland games has slipped. Im like everyone else WHY? I get amped for MD everytime they play. I wish I could afford to go to more games to show my support.

Speaking of Anderson last night, gave him a mouthful when we crossed paths. He's got a lot of nerve showing his face at Comcast Center. The jumbotron folks seems to have been instructed never to show his face on the screen. I guess everyone knows he'd be booed at Maryland worse than any Duke player ever would be.

Speaking of Anderson last night, gave him a mouthful when we crossed paths. He's got a lot of nerve showing his face at Comcast Center. The jumbotron folks seems to have been instructed never to show his face on the screen. I guess everyone knows he'd be booed at Maryland worse than any Duke player ever would be.

Posted by: Barno1 | February 24, 2011 3:19 PM

Yep - all his fault that Maryland basketball has been declining over the last 8 years. How dare the AD show up to see one of his sports.

Breunig is 6'9" from Germany and currently playing prep bball in Wisconsin. He is highly regarded and most likely 1st on Gary's list of big men still available. Go check out his video's on the Terps blog sites.

"If you students aren't going to Maryland basketball games because you can't chant "you suck" anymore, I have four words for you: You people are ignorant. (Oh, and a few more words as an addenda: Transfer to a "party" school; College Park doesn't need you.)"

Doesnt this strike at the very heart of being in college? Isn't it a time when free speech is not only tolerated but encouraged? Isn't basically run by over grown, picketing, rage at the system, liberals? I can't imagine why they would do anything to sensor this constitutional right.

Oh wait. Might it be......money? Might the university big wigs be afraid that ESPN may not want to show games form comcast and thus they lose revenue? Or might it be the ACC powers that be that know they cannot avoid a MD/Duke nationally televised game. my guess is they all did similarly outrageous things in their day by stealing a pig or toilet papering a dorm or something equally horrific for the times.

Let the students have their time. if it is all that bad they will be embarrassed for themselves in years down the line or their parents will catch them with a bad word on their shirt and chastise them. Aren't their more important things to take care of at MD than who is chanting "you suck"?

Hey we were there a week ago for the women's game v Duke. That was a nice crowd and a great game.
BTW SI.com in an article about Steve Lavin dropped in this little bomb about Gary Williams.

"Best of all, Lavin makes his guys want to play hard -- a vastly underrated coaching tool. Throughout my years covering sports, I've seen one college coach after another try to urge on his players via condemnation, tantrums, vulgarity and brutality. I will never forget sitting behind the University of Maryland bench during the Terrapins' 87-79 loss to Arizona in the 1998 West Regional semifinal in Anaheim. As his players struggled to shut down the Wildcats' big three of Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon, coach Gary Williams let loose a series of tirades that left everyone sitting within earshot in a stunned -- and awkward -- silence. The language was disgusting. The disapproval was heartbreaking. I'll never forget the face of Laron Profit, at the time Maryland's best player, as he listened to his coach talk to him as if he were a prison inmate. That Maryland lost was hardly a shocker; Williams all but psyched his men out."

Yes I will stand by my statement that "NERDS DON'T LIKE BASKETBALL". The Dookies are not fans. They are 5'6" engineering geeks who would rather wear stupid face paint and meet other 5'5" ugly engineering students. Yeah I hope that engineering degree is working wonders for you guys in this economy... You know because that's a growing field... Ha I'll stick with my sociology degree where I make six figures in sales.

Additionally they are all from New York/New Jersey and they are pretty much the worst people on Earth. I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO A GAME AT CAMERON INDOOR AND LAUGH AT ALL THOSE DWEEBS. Oh wait I can't get a ticket because their arena only seats 8,000 people. Dookies claim that they won't build a new arena because Cameron is intimate and they prefer it that way. Nope. It's because Duke isn't even the most popular school in Durham, North Carolina. That would go to NC State! They can't sell more than 9,000 tickets per game!!!

Kevin Anderson is ruining our home court advantage because he wants to make our fans bland. Attendance will continue to decline until he is fired. Is it really the worst thing to have our students say, "YOU SUCK" to the other team? Newsflash Kevin, students say a lot worse things to each other. A LOT WORSE.

The school has totally lost its roots as a state university for MARYLAND. The out of state percentage is in the high 30%s if I remember correctly. UNC has a state law that requires that something like 83% of their students are in state.

GO MARYLAND!!! KEVIN ANDERSON YOU SUCK!!!

AND NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY/DUKE, YOU ARE THE WORST AND YOUR ACCENTS ARE AWFUL!!! GO HOME!!!!

My friends and I go to every game, get there an hour early before gates open and get seats right on the court. As a student I was so disappointed in the attendance, especially for a major ACC game. I just can’t believe 35,000 students go here and 4,500 for the student section can’t fill up to support the terps.

I study for exams, do my papers and go to class but I also support my school. Its funny how many students are always complaining about rising tuition and how they have to drop out of school if they do. I’m sure those same people don’t realize that they pay athletic fees that they probably never use. I’m saying, if you pay all this money for college than use it. We have one of the nicest college basketball arenas in the country, get off your lazy ass, walk out your dorm which is on campus with Comcast, enjoy a basketball game and support your team. My friends and I are commuters, we do a hell of a lot more on campus than many people who live on it and use are athletic fees to the max. Better see a full crowd at our senior game against Virginia. Go Terps!!!!

My friends and I go to every game, get there an hour early before gates open and get seats right on the court. As a student I was so disappointed in the attendance, especially for a major ACC game. I just can’t believe 35,000 students go here and 4,500 for the student section can’t fill up to support the terps. I study for exams, do my papers and go to class but I also support my school. Its funny how many students are always complaining about rising tuition and how they have to drop out of school if they do. I’m sure those same people don’t realize that they pay athletic fees that they probably never use. I’m saying, if you pay all this money for college then use it. We have one of the nicest college basketball arenas in the country, get off your lazy ass, walk out your dorm which is on campus with Comcast Center, enjoy a basketball game and support your team. My friends and I are commuters, we do a hell of a lot more on campus than many people who live on it and use are athletic fees to the max. Better see a full crowd at our senior game against Virginia. Go Terps!!!!

Funny thing to say about GW that he's 'noid. Well I guess students like to see the team beat Duke. I noticed the away game @ NC St wasn't packed. Everyone should adjust their mirrors before driving. Sorry to hear about Wright. Dino as we all noticed found his eye. He always had it and I wondered why he stopped shooting back when. A few games ago he was missing easy ones inside so he moved away and found his range. Good going. JW is good but there are a lot of bigs in the NBA so he's staying. He may need a year or two to work on backing down the guy from up front. A turnaround would be good. From deep on the right he is a little undersized against two men. But on the other hand in the pros they leave it vacant and wait for the ball to hit the rim. He could prove to be one of the best to graduate once he goes pro. The Stog and Pe' really showed up at the right time. GW has one chip on one shoulder and another on the same side. Man I would love to see MD knock off Thad Matta and his crew. The players are good but Matta is one dude like Tressel I just don't like his face. Sorta like most people feel about the K man. Oh forgetaboutit. It's bball. Who cares. A bye? Well at 7-6 they could as FSU falters w/o Singleton. VT is famous for cascading down the river though Seth Greenberg is burning this year to get to 16 and then some. GW with three guards next year? I like that. Hawk not Parker. Should look to trade the Parker man if u ain't gonna play him for being too jumpie coach. Well the bad news is Marquette got really really good and the Johnnies are tough NY'rs. So Balt may think it's the center of the bball universe but they have a lot to prove to Purdue, Wisconsin, Louisville, Cinn, Pitt, ND, Nova, Cuse and and Florida.

----------------------------
Yes I will stand by my statement that "NERDS DON'T LIKE BASKETBALL". The Dookies are not fans. They are 5'6" engineering geeks who would rather wear stupid face paint and meet other 5'5" ugly engineering students. Yeah I hope that engineering degree is working wonders for you guys in this economy... You know because that's a growing field... Ha I'll stick with my sociology degree where I make six figures in sales.

Additionally they are all from New York/New Jersey and they are pretty much the worst people on Earth. I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO A GAME AT CAMERON INDOOR AND LAUGH AT ALL THOSE DWEEBS. Oh wait I can't get a ticket because their arena only seats 8,000 people. Dookies claim that they won't build a new arena because Cameron is intimate and they prefer it that way. Nope. It's because Duke isn't even the most popular school in Durham, North Carolina. That would go to NC State! They can't sell more than 9,000 tickets per game!!!
-------------------------------

Do you have any idea how many incorrect things you said there? First of all...I'm a 6'2" engineering geek. Secondly, the vast majority of Duke students are not engineers. Also, engineering is one of the ONLY fields that actually grew during the economic recession...and I too have a 6 figure salary. I'm not from New York or New Jersey (FL), and I know that spelling Duke "dook" is less of an insult to my team and more of a commentary on my own intelligence.

skins_fan_22 and cm88: Most of Gary's players love him and you are absolutely delusional if you think his players don't play hard. Most of his teams have scrappers like Matt Roe, Rodney Elliott, Johnny Rhodes, Byron Mouton, Dave Neal, "Boom" Osby, Greivis Vasquez, Sean Moseley, and Terrell Stoglin. Gary gets the most out of them.

Laron Profit was like Exree Hipp: a lot of talent, but sometimes didn't focus enough. I can forgive Gary for dropping a few f-bombs when his players weren't mentally tough. I'll bet Tucker gets an earful some nights too.

Em-f**king-barrasing. Get your asses to the game. I'm 1,000 miles away and I made it to see the Terps in KC when they showed there. If the students can't get there and the ol local alum can't fork out a few bucks for a "must win" game, it's a sad state of afairs indeed.

Awesome. Yea, try Bruce B in 24/7. That was quite a nice run of f Bombs he used there. Players need to play like they are taught in practice. If they don't, tell them straight what they aren't doing.

------------------
Oh my goodness gracious! Heaven's to Betsy, skins_fan_22: Gary Williams said naughty words to young adults in 1998? I sure hope Laron Profit was able to recover from the mental injury this must have caused. The poor innocent children given full rides to a major division school, where most are groomed for professional basketball (either here or abroad) and salaries exponentially higher than most of their classmates!

Spunkydawg are you even a sports fan? Have you played sports? Any moron knows that the more fans yelling and screaming for you, the bigger the adrenaline rush - the more you are pushed to succeed. You don't get it, so just go back to your sudoku!

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